As predicted, United Airlines came out of its fiasco from a few months ago essentially unscathed. I had asserted previously that it didn’t matter what United Airlines did to restore its image, because consumers are faced with few choices when flying.
An article in today’s New York Times titled “The Boycott That Wasn’t” revealed that in the second quarter, United Airlines’ revenue increased by six percent and profit by 49 percent.
Sadly, that’s what happens in industries with little competition: You can violently remove a man from his seat on an airplane and then increase passengers flying on your airline by 4.2 percent.